Our denial

It was disheartening to hear about a news in Taiwan where people are fighting to preserve the "last natural river" in Ban Chiao city, Taipei county, to stop the government from burying it and make it into an underground drainage like many others. This is when I realised that in my memory, I don't remember a single "river" flowing through Taipei county. It also reminded me of the water way that used to lead from my place in Taipei to the outside. It was a big opened drain that the road twined with. For many years, with the surrounding factories polluting it and cars felling into it, it was regarded as a hazard rather than a resource to be preserved. We were also glad when the government sealed it by constructing a concrete road surface over it, officially making it "underground".

Now, reflecting back, it was an absolute shame. It is the typical "swipping under the carpet" mentality. Instead of fixing the pollution and controlling the surrounding development, we chose to simply cover it up. The water still flows the path it used to. It's still under the very cover that we drive on, but we don't see it anymore. I am pretty certain that people who moved into the area after the cover project will never know about the drain, about the pollution and about this lesson that we should learn.

Now I am living right beside a water way. It's a creek that channels the city's water run-offs into a bigger river. Unlike Taiwan, the creek is embraced here. Properties along it are desirable. People want to preserve it. I guess sometimes, resistance to change is good.